Automatic fire-door-operating device.



UN'ITED STATES PATENT OFFIOE.

WILLIAM REED, OE NEWARK, NEI/V JERSEY, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO HOWARTH BROS. COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

AUTOMATIC FIRE-DOOR-OPERATING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 8, 1905.

Application tiled June 21,1904. Serial No. 213,462.

T0 all whom, 1115 71am/ concern:

Be it known that LWILLIAM P. REED, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Fire-Door-Operating Devices; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to numerals of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to lire-doors for buildings, or doors which are adapted to automatically close under the influence of undue heat; and more particularly the invention relates to doors of the said class which are hinged at one upright edge and adapted to swing horizontally, as opposed to sliding doors.

The objects of the invention are to provide means for automatically closing a swinging fire-door upon exposure to undue heat; to enable said means to furthermore serve in holding the door closed under normal conditions, if desired; to provide means for propping the door open under normal conditions which shall be released by undue heat; to secure a simple construction and one which will lnot readily get out of order, and to obtain other advantages and results, some of which may be hereinafter referred to in connection with the description of the working parts.

The invention consists in the improved device for automatically operating swinging {iredoors and in the arrangements and combinations of parts of the same, all substantially as will be hereinafter set forth and finally embraced in the clauses of the claim.

Referring' to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in each of the several figures. Figure 1 is a horizontal section taken through the wall above a door of my improved construction, showing the door open. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the upper part of the door in closed position. Fig. 3 is a reverse plan of a certain brace, particularly showing a certain fusible link applied to the same; and Fig. A is a detail section upon line w, Fig. 1.

In said drawings, 1 indicates a wall of any ordinary construction, and 2 is a fire-door hinged to said wall, as at 3, said door being thus adapted to swing upon a vertical line of hinging. To the inner side of said door is applied a stud 4, to which is secured a chain 5, which passes first around a horizontally-disposed pulley 6 in the top of the doorway and then over a`vertically-disposed pulley 7 at one vside of the doorway, a weight 8A being attached 'to the end of said chain. Said weight therefore normally holds the door 2 in closed position, and even though the door be pushed partly open, as by a person passing therethrough, it will be instantly closed by the weight.

The vertically-disposed pulley 7 is supported upon the'side walls of the doorway by a bracket 71, of any suitable construction, and the horizontal pulley 6 is mounted by an elongated hub 9 upon the shank of a pin 10, screwed into the top of the doorway. Between the pulley 6 and the head of the pin 10 is pivotally secured one end of a horizontallydisposed brace 11, which at its other end carries a friction-pulley 12, adapted to engage the door. Said friction-wheel 12 preferably travels in a track 13, arranged transversely of the door 2, said track comprising a grooved portion 1A and a parallel rod 15, raised above the said grooved portion 14. The wheel 12 travels between said portions 1A 15 of the track, and for retaining the door in open position a projection or stop 16 is provided upon the bottom of the track portion 14, behind which the wheel 12 will lie when the door is thrown wide upon, as shown in Fig. 1.

The brace 11 is bifurcated at its end next the door, as at 17, to straddle the rod 15 and receive the wheel 12, and its other end is provided with a fusible link 18, inserted as a longitudinal portion of the brace in any manner common to the art. Said link, which is of any well-known type found in the market, is adapted to melt upon exposure to heat such as would necessitate closing the lire-door, and obviously when the link melts away the bracev l1 will be parted and the door 2 permitted to close under the iniuence of the weight 8.

By my construction thus described a firedoor of the ordinary swinging type can be closed promptly and automatically in case of fire. It will be noted that the location of the fusible link 18 is such that it will be most readily reached by the heat or iiames, which normally pass through the -u pper part of the doorway, and thus the door will be closed at an early stage of the fire. It will also be 0bserved that under normal conditions my improved apparatus does not interfere with the ordinary use of the door in opening and closing, the weight then acting simply as a means to shutthe door.

Obviously various modificationsof the details of construction can be employed in the practical operation of my invention and the exact location of parts described may be varied without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and I therefore do not wish to be understood as limiting myself b y the positive descriptive terms employed herein except as the state of the art may require.

Having thus described the invention. what I claim as new is- 1. The combination with a door hinged at one side edge, and means normally holding said door closed, of a runway or track upon said door transverse with respect to its line of hinging and comprising parallel rails, said track having a stop, and a brace pivoted at one end to the door-frame in the top of the doorway and permanently engaging at its other end said runway or track on the door, said brace having a fusible portion near its pivoted end.

2. rlhe combination with av door-frame and adoorhinged therein, of means normally holding said door closed, a brace pivoted to the door-frame to swing in a plane substantially perpendicular to the door and engage at its end said door, a stop on said door adapted to be engaged by said brace, and a fusible link in said brace.

3. The combination with a door-'frame and a door hinged therein, of means normally holding said door closed, a transverse track upon said door, a stop in said track, a brace pivoted at one end to the door-frame and adapted at its other end to follow said track upon the door, and a fusible link in said brace.

4. rIhe combination with a door-frame and a door hinged thereto at one upright lateral edge, of means normally holding said door closed, atransverse track upon said door having a stop therein, a brace pivoted to the doorframe to swing substantially horizontal and having at its other end a friction-wheel engaging said track, and a fusible link in said brace.

5. The combination with a door-frame and a door hinged at one vertical edge therein, of a chain attached to said door, pulleys mounted on said frame and over which the said chain passes, a weight at the end of said chain, a brace pivoted at one end to the door-frame to swing longitudinally and adapted at its other end to engage the inner side of the door, and a fusible link in said brace.

6. The combina-tion with a door-frame, and a door hinged therein at lone vertical edge, of a pin inserted into the top of the doorway, a horizontal pulley upon said pin, a vertical pulley mounted upon the side of the doorway, a chain attached to the door and passing over said pulleys', a weight at the end of said chain, a brace pivoted at one end upon the same pin with said horizontal pulley, a track on the door adapted to guide the other end of the brace and havinga stop to be automatically engaged by said brace, and a fusible link in said brace.

7. The combination with adoor hinged therein at one vertical edge, and means for holding said door normally closed, of a brace pivoted to the top of said doorway within the same, a track upon the doorway adapted to receive the other end of the brace and having a stop to temporarily engage the same, and a fusible link in said brace near its point of pivoting.

In testimony that. I claim the foregoing' I have hereunto set my hand lthis 2d day of June, 1904.

WILLIAM P. REED.

Witnesses:

CHARLES H. PELL, RUSSELL M; EVERETT. 

